In the past short while, Seven has invested some millions of their money by opening the network chequebook to secure exclusive interviews with not only convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby but also Rachelle Louise, the devoted partner of murderer Simon Gittany and – as we discovered when he was sentenced on Tuesday – the family of Lisa Harnum, the former girlfriend whom Gittany threw off his high-rise Sydney balcony.

Ms Harnum's mother, Joan, explained that she was "regrettably" unable to respond publicly to Gittany's maximum sentence of 26 years because she had signed a deal with Seven. Gittany's crime has caused the Harnums, from Canada, immeasurable pain. The family's journeys to Australia have no doubt added considerable financial strain to their grief. Any money they have accepted to lighten that burden is understandable.

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Less understandable is Seven's exploitation of that predicament. And inexcusable is Seven's payment – under $150,000 according to one source, but disputed by Seven – to Rachelle Louise, the girlfriend who refuses to believe Gittany is guilty.

Schapelle Corby was released from jail on Monday.Credit:Justin McManus

The top-rating television network is having an especially grubby week. A veiled Schapelle Corby (as if anyone could forget that face, but let's milk this mystery for all its worth) ran the gauntlet of media hordes on Monday to reach the safety of Seven's black chariot with its tinted windows. Safe in the arms of Mike Willesee, she was delivered to a five-star resort where she will give Seven's Sunday Night program the scoop of the year.

"No, Mike, I didn't do it. Truly, I had no idea that 4.2 kilograms of pot was in my boogie board bag."

Or words to that effect. Seven has reportedly paid Corby between $1.3 million and $3 million to keep this bombshell to itself until Sunday night. You'd have to fill a lot of boogie board bags to make that sort of money.

But won’t it be a blockbuster night for Seven if it goes to air on Sunday night? Corby unmasked, as we've never seen her, followed by the second instalment of Gittany, the woman who still loves him and the family whose grief you'll see on no other channel.

Rachelle Louise: paid to be on Sunday Night.

A brutal calculus underpins Seven's dirty little business. These stories will be the only show in town. They will smash Nine and Ten in the ratings. Advertisers will reward Seven and its shareholders for the faith they have placed in chequebook journalism, if not this week, eventually – so long as they can keep the supply chain of exclusives rolling.

Of course, we have laws designed to prevent criminals benefiting from the proceeds of their crimes, as Corby learnt with her book and may well rediscover if she ever dares to bring her booty home under her own name. One suspects the payees on Seven's cheque will be certain members of her family.

Joan Harnum with a doll believed to be her murdered daughter's at court for the decision.Credit:Peter Rae

What of Gittany? Will the money paid to Rachelle Louise help fund his planned appeal? Even if Gittany never sees a cent of that money, why should his girlfriend – or anybody for that matter – profit from his crime?

In court on Tuesday, Justice Lucy McCallum dismissed Gittany's plea for a lighter sentence on the grounds that he had suffered from intense media attention. On the contrary, the judge said, Gittany had embraced the media. He had done nothing to dissuade Louise from appearing on national television or joining protests outside the court.

Murdered: Lisa Harnum.

She became the talent and Seven recognised her dollar value. It wasn’t anything like the $500,000 she had sought from Seven and Nine, according to one television source. In any case, Louise didn’t turn up to witness Gittany’s sentencing. It would have been a shame to overexpose her before Big Sunday, after all.

Let's hope that Seven's story pays due respect to the one person it couldn't pay for her story: Lisa Harnum.

Mike Willesee is in line to interview Schapelle Corby after the Seven Network reportedly paid $2 million for an exclusive.Credit:Justin McManus

As Justice McCallum said: "Ms Harnum must have been in a state of complete terror in the moments before her death."

In those terror-filled moments, she could hardly have countenanced the horrific thought that people might soon profit from what was about to happen to her.

Response from Sunday Night executive producer Mark Llewellyn

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"All the figures being bandied about this week are false by a considerable margin. Fairfax has rushed in with made up sums and suspiciously self-serving high dudgeon. We stand by our story which was fair and accurate unlike this report."

Rick Feneley is a news and features writer for The Sydney Morning Herald. His column, Then Again, appears on Saturdays. He was the paper's long-term night editor before returning to writing in late 2008.